Rakesh Tikait, a prominent figure in the 2020/21 protests against the government’s controversial farm laws, has thrown his support behind the second ‘Delhi Chalo’ agitation, which commenced with clashes between farmers and police at the Punjab-Haryana border. Tikait, the head of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), issued a warning to the ruling BJP, stating that if the government creates problems for the marching farmers, they are not far from them.
The BKU, an Uttar Pradesh-based organization founded by former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh, is one of the larger farmer federations in the country. Tikait’s brother, Naresh Tikait, who serves as the National President of the BKU, has urged the government to engage in talks with the farmers, emphasizing the need to give respect to their demands.
Rakesh Tikait had previously called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ on February 16 to press for farmers’ demands. In June of the previous year, he had also threatened a larger agitation than the ones against the now-repealed farm laws if the demand for a legal guarantee on minimum support prices was not addressed.
The recent violence at the Punjab-Haryana border marked the first signs of escalation, with tear gas fired at the farmers as they began their push towards Delhi. Approximately two dozen shells were fired, despite no immediate signs of provocation. The situation adds to the challenges faced by the government, scrambling to contain protests that have erupted just weeks before a general election.
